Dog after Neutering

After having Ned the Border Collie for a while our plan was to keep Ned “intact” until he was a few years of age. We had, in our innocence, a grand plan to breed this dog to carry on his amazing temperament, intelligence, and all around “great dog” appeal. At first I was totally on board with this plan as, being in the male camp myself, was in no hurry to see my little buddy lose his family jewels. This all sounded great until Ned turned from a cute little puppy into a sex crazed maniac. Life became far more difficult than we’d ever imagined it could be from this issue. Looking back waiting too long to neuter him is the biggest mistake we’ve made (so far) in raising Ned.

Why it’s necessary

While we were lucky in the point that Ned did not get aggressive with other dogs nor did he become amorous with the legs of friend or family – Ned was simply trying to hump everything on four legs he could get his paws on. It did not make any difference to him male or female, big or small, old or young he just went for it. Walking him on the leash with any other dog in sight became all but impossible. Having friends come over with their dogs was totally impossible as Ned would just not stop attempting to mate. It was simply non-stop, disruptive and really, really aggravating for us. For Ned it was no fun either…in fact our Vet described it akin to low grade torture. It was time to get it done.

After the trip to the Vet here is the dog after neutering…

…and on top of getting neutered he also got his dewclaws removed. Overall it was a bad day for Ned. After the operation he was pretty groggy for a day or two and looked at us in what we found to be a very accusing manner. Physically nothing looked very different “down there” however over the course of several days is scrotum got smaller and smaller. Eventually it disappears altogether. The cone obviously keeps him from licking/messing up anything in that area. Over all he was pretty tender for a while. He was pretty bummed out for a while but it only took about 7 or 8 days or so before he started to come out of the funk and moving around more normally.

Day ten he was running after a tennis ball even with that big cone on his head…see the dirt all around the edge? It was a half-speed sort of thing…only ground balls…short throws…no jumping…that sort of thing.

So, was it worth it?

100% yes. Absolutely. We were concerned that because we had waited relatively long to get this operation done the benefits would either be minimized or simple not take hold. Luckily we saw some great benefits within a week or so of the operation. After Ned was back on his feet we noticed right off that he no longer had that insatiable need to mount every dog he got near. It was like magic. Walking him on the leash was a joy again. Friends could bring their dogs over to our place and we found we could take him anywhere (still do!). Over all if you are considering neutering your dog do it as soon as your vet recommends it. Skip all the hassle and headaches for yourself and save your dog the frustration.